A Gift for Environmentalism

Mr. Trump is now threatening to tax nearly the total value of goods — more than $505 billion — that China sent to the U.S. last year. His stance has drawn a rebuke from retailers, tech companies and manufacturers.

Environmentalists should be peeing themselves with delight. This is the biggest thing that happened to advance their cause in forever. Consumer goods prices go up, people are forced to buy less, and reduce the speed at which they are devouring the planet.

Obviously, this would be an unintended effect, but who cares? The important thing is that nobody has come up with anything else that stands the slightest chance of curbing consumption.

8 thoughts on “A Gift for Environmentalism

  1. Obviously, this would be an unintended effect, but who cares? The important thing is that nobody has come up with anything else that stands the slightest chance of curbing consumption.

    This is not true, I think. For example, hybrid cars are more fuel efficient than those purely powered by internal combustion engines, reducing oil consumption. LED light bulbs are far more efficient than incandescent ones, reducing energy consumption. E-books are reducing paper, and hence wood, consumption (although I confess that I do not like them at all, a lot of people do.)

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    1. Of course, we can justify our uncontrollable compulsion to consume as much as we want. We are seeing the results of that already. Last week there was news that the ice sheets are melting at incredible speeds.

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        1. Aren’t tariffs simply a form of “pre-taxation” on items from abroad that haven’t yet been sold?
          Charging outside countries to do business in and profit from the U.S. consumer and various businesses that purchase said products?

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  2. A Gift to normal people: “Trump ends his policy of family separations with executive order”

    Since you are usually interested in academia – news from Israel:

    Holon deputy mayor apologizes for callling gays ‘animals’
    Yoel Yeshurun, also the dean of the Ashkelon Academic College, apologizes for his Facebook post where he called those participants in last week’s Pride events ‘two-legged animals’; apology comes after dozens of college professors wrote a letter to the college administration demanding Yeshurun be reprimanded.

    In a Facebook post over a week ago Yeshurun, who also serves as the dean of the Ashkelon Academic College, called LGBT Pride Month events, which include SlutWalk March and Gay Pride Parade, a place where “those two-legged animals walk proudly, deeply disturbed, those who lay with men as well as ugly female animals with ‘I’m a slut’ tattoos!!!”

    https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5292485,00.html

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